Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Isaiah Is Sent with a Message for the Lord’s People
6 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and lofty throne. The bottom of his robe filled the temple. 2 Angels [a] were standing above him. Each had six wings: With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They called to each other and said,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory.”
4 Their voices shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke.
5 So I said, “Oh, no!
I’m doomed.
Every word that passes through my lips is sinful.
I live among people with sinful lips.
I have seen the king, the Lord of Armies!”
6 Then one of the angels flew to me. In his hand was a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away, and your sin has been forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9 And he said, “Go and tell these people,
‘No matter how closely you listen, you’ll never understand.
No matter how closely you look, you’ll never see.’
10 Make these people close-minded.
Plug their ears.
Shut their eyes.
Otherwise, they may see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
and return and be healed.”
11 I asked, “How long, O Lord?”
And he replied,
“Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them,
the houses have no people,
and the land is completely desolate.
12 The Lord will send his people far away,
and a large area in the middle of the land will be abandoned.
13 Even if one out of ten people is left in it,
the land will be burned again.
When a sacred oak or an oak is cut down, a stump is left
The holy seed will be the land’s stump.”
By David.
138 I will give thanks to you with all my heart.
I will make music to praise you in front of the false gods.
2 I will bow toward your holy temple.
I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth.
You have made your name and your promise greater than everything.
3 When I called, you answered me.
You made me bold by strengthening my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord,
because they have heard the promises you spoke.
5 They will sing this about the ways of the Lord:
“The Lord’s honor is great!”
6 Even though the Lord is high above, he sees humble people ⌞close up⌟,
and he recognizes arrogant people from a distance.
7 Even though I walk into the middle of trouble,
you guard my life against the anger of my enemies.
You stretch out your hand,
and your right hand saves me.
8 The Lord will do everything for me.
O Lord, your mercy endures forever.
Do not let go of what your hands have made.
Jesus Came Back to Life
15 Brothers and sisters, I’m making known to you the Good News which I already told you, which you received, and on which your faith is based. 2 In addition, you are saved by this Good News if you hold on to the doctrine I taught you, unless you believed it without thinking it over. 3 I passed on to you the most important points of doctrine that I had received:
Christ died to take away our sins as the Scriptures predicted.
4 He was placed in a tomb.
He was brought back to life on the third day as the Scriptures predicted.
5 He appeared to Cephas.[a] Next he appeared to the twelve apostles. 6 Then he appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. (Most of these people are still living, but some have died.) 7 Next he appeared to James. Then he appeared to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, he also appeared to me.
I’m like an aborted child ⌞who was given life⌟. 9 I’m the least of the apostles. I’m not even fit to be called an apostle because I persecuted God’s church. 10 But God’s kindness [b] made me what I am, and that kindness was not wasted on me. Instead, I worked harder than all the others. It was not I who did it, but God’s kindness was with me. 11 So, whether it was I or someone else, this is the message we brought you, and this is what you believed.
Calling of the First Disciples(A)
5 One day Jesus was standing by the Sea of Galilee. The people crowded around him as they listened to God’s word. 2 Jesus saw two boats on the shore. The fishermen had stepped out of them and were washing their nets. 3 So Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to push off a little from the shore. Then Jesus sat down and taught the crowd from the boat.
4 When he finished speaking, he told Simon, “Take the boat into deep water, and lower your nets to catch some fish.”
5 Simon answered, “Teacher, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if you say so, I’ll lower the nets.”
6 After the men had done this, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. Their partners came and filled both boats until the boats nearly sank.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he knelt in front of Jesus and said, “Leave me, Lord! I’m a sinful person!” 9 Simon and everyone who was with him were amazed to see the large number of fish they had caught. 10 James and John, who were Zebedee’s sons and Simon’s partners, were also amazed.
Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will catch people instead of fish.”
11 Simon and his partners brought the boats to shore, left everything, and followed Jesus.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.